The Clues
by DainoChild
Summary: The five clues N missed about the Plasma plot, and the one clue about Black he picked up before anybody else. Game-verse, spoilers and isshushipping.


_I've been discussing theories about N with a couple of friends lately. One thinks that N saw the whole plot twist coming, or had his suspicions. I don't buy that. I think N explained away all the clues as for 'the greater good'._

_So that's what this fic is about. It's basically 'The Five Clues N Missed About How Evil Team Plasma is and the One Unrelated Clue He Caught Before Anybody Else Because I Need Isshushipping To Get My Blonde to Read This and Therefore Win the Argument'._

_That title's too long, so it's just called 'The Clues'._

_Hope you enjoy, in all its unbeta'd-and-written-at-midnight glory!_

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><p><strong>1. The Pokémon<strong>

Growing up, N slept out in the forest with the pokémon he protected. He never moved far from where Ghetsis told him to sleep. Obeying Ghetsis' orders had nothing to do with Ghetsis and everything to do with the pokémon, who were always too exhausted and broken to move. During the day, the ones whose limbs weren't cut or broken would wander off. Whenever N tried to follow them, they would tell him it was dangerous and that he had to stay away. They always came back exhausted and/or wounded, and Ghetsis was normally the one helping them return.

Once, N tried to follow even after he was warned. The darmanitan bit him on the leg so he couldn't walk.

She apologised, but N could tell that she didn't mean it.

**2. The Maths**

N loved doing maths. There was always an answer, and it was always easy to find. Maths reduced the world to its purest form; a series of elegant equations explaining everything and anything. The Sages were always more than happy to give N new maths books to solve, and when he ran out, N wrote his own formulae. Everything could be reduced to a series of mathematical formulae, and N was determined to find the formula to set his friends free from humans.

Ghetsis was very encouraging, but would often bring N series of geometrical equations to solve. There were always a lot of right-angles and golden rectangles involved.

**3. The Castle**

When N was eleven, the underground castle was completed. He had been told it was purely for Team Plasma's admin, but when it was done, Ghetsis told him he was to leave the forest and move in.

N didn't want to move into the castle, but Ghetsis told him that if he didn't he'd be disturbing the pokémon's natural environment. Humans created buildings, harsh, cruel and selfish that they were, and took away pokémon's land. The last thing pokémon needed to suffer was having humans invading their space.

N always slept in the castle after that, but he never forgot the way the pokémon used to crowd around him to keep him warm when he slept outside. He never stopped missing his friends' company at night. Sometimes, he found pokémon trying to sneak in. He always locked them out.

**4. Zekrom**

After his coronation, N had been expected to leave on his 'Trainer' journey to find the legendary pokémon who would help liberate the world's pokémon. N had always known it would be either Zekrom or Reshiram, and he had always expected it to be Reshiram, the pokémon of truth.

Yet Ghetsis had told him to seek Zekrom, the pokémon of ideals. When N questioned this, Ghetsis replied:

"We may know the truth, and we may be acting upon it, but the world that you — I mean, that we, wish to create, one where pokémon have been liberated from Trainers, is not based on the world's current truth. It is based on what is ideal for pokémon. Do you understand?"

N claimed to, but wouldn't liberating the pokémon from Trainers be showing the Trainers the truth? Wouldn't Reshiram agree, if the world were truly supposed to be split into humans and pokémon?

Zekrom embraced N like a long lost brother and always coddled him.

**5. 'My Lord'**

Black's reaction to the news that N was King of Team Plasma was very strange. The initial one was satisfactory, but when they met again in Chargestone Cave, Black rudely interrupted N's explanation of the Shadow Triad to ask:

"Why do they all call you 'lord'?"

N stared for a moment before replying, "Have you already forgotten what I told you? That I am the King of Team Plasma? It shames me if you have…"

"No, that's _why_ I'm asking," Black replied. "Kings don't get called 'lord'. Lords get called lord."

N frowned. "It would draw attention if I were to be addressed as 'Your Imperial Highness', and that is not of significa—"

"'Imperial Highness' is for emperors." Black sighed. "What, didn't you watch the Royal Wedding?"

N didn't bother to reply to Black's unimportant line of thought. It did not matter what N's title was, just what he was to do. Black was clearly clutching at thoughts to keep the world grey, impure, a mess.

N asked Bronius about it later. Bronius agreed that it did not matter.

**+ 1: Black**

N had told Black about how back in Accumula Town, when they'd first met, he had been shocked about Black's oshawott wanting to stay with him, yet Black was still begging N not to leave.

"It's not just Alder who forgives you," Black insisted. "I do too, and so will everyone, and — you don't have to go. You can stay. Please."

N didn't understand humans, and as it turned out, he didn't understand pokémon, either. Not everything could be perfectly represented in formulae. There were too many variables, and Black was a variable in N's life that he would never be able to predict. Despite that, despite all N had dragged Black into and all of it being for nothing, Black wanted N to stay.

N had a theory of what that meant, but the idea made him all the more certain he needed to leave.

After all, N had too much to learn about the world, about both humans and pokémon, before he could accept Black's feelings.

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><p><em>Yes, by 'the Royal Wedding' Black is referring to the marriage of Kate Middleton and Prince William. I can clearly see Black staying up late to watch it and being all excited. In a totally manly and dignified way, of course. And if picturing that is wrong, then I don't WANT to be right.<em>

_So, um, yeah. That was actually the main point that sparked this fic; why _do_ they call N 'lord' when he's a king? My theory is that Nintendo was doing a very standard translation of the Japanese honourific 'sama' and accidentally fell into an unfortunately common mistake. I like to pretend that Ghetsis made it so to undermine N, even though… well, that's a pretty poor way to do so._

_Anyway, it's done. It was a bit bland in my opinion, but that's one more fic done for my 100 Theme Challenge. This one's theme, if you were wondering, is 'bullshit'._


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